Monday, 31 October 2011

The Pokémon Company is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the first Pokémon game by holding a Rekidai Game Pokémon Sōsenkyō! (Generations of Games: Pokémon General Election!) contest from November 12 to December 25. The vote will determine the most popular Pokémon to appear on the cover art of 15 games.

The winning Pokémon will be given as a free present to fans in the Japanese DS edition of the Pokémon: Black and White games.

Contest forms and ballot boxes will be available at participating stores throughout Japan, but only a limited number of the required forms will be printed; if the forms run out before December 25, the vote ends. The contest is patterned after the "general elections" made popular by the all-female idol group AKB48.

London's semi-annual MCM Expo saw the assembled British anime industry gather to discuss new product licenses and the overall health of the scene.

Manga UK's Jerome Mazandarani announced the acquisition of the Tales of Vesperia movie on DVD and Blu-Ray, and confirmed Saturday's rumours that the company has licensed both Shiki and Strike Witches 2. The previously announced Samurai Girls has been delayed until January 2012, but will be released on both DVD and Blu-Ray. Noriyuki Abe's third Bleach movie, Bleach: Fade to Black has been similarly delayed due to issue with subtitle delivery but will see release in Q2 2012. The second Naruto Shippūden movie will also be released in both formats. Stand-alone movies Trigun: Badlands Rumble and Mardock Scramble are set to land in spring, the latter in early March, while Princess Jellyfish washes onto British shores in the summer. Mazandarani also dated Manga's release of the second live action Gantz movie, Perfect Answer, and Tekken: Blood Vengeance for 7th February 2012. Further license announcements are set for later this year, though Mazandarani was unable to comment further at present.

Andrew Partridge, representing Kaze UK and Anime on Demand, announced physical release rights for the currently-streaming UN-GO, Persona 4 and Mirai Nikki, with dates still a way from being set. British fans should expect to see Manga and Kaze working closer in the future, with Kaze's logo appearing on more Manga releases. Manga hope to work closely with Anime on Demand for streaming and discounts, and Anime on Demand is expecting to show off the design of their new interface online tomorrow. Kaze UK is also looking at sleeper hits from the spring anime season, citing Moshidora as being specifically discussed while acknowledging it would be very hard to market in the UK. Partridge indicated an announcement concerning Shinkai's Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below would be made later this month

Tony Allen of MVM confirmed a UK release of Welcome to the NHK for a 9th January release. MVM has regained the rights to popular series Fruits Basket and Kiddy Grade, both of which will see new boxed sets next year – 6th Feb and 5th March, respectively. The company is interested in the third season of Ikki Tousen, when an English dub is available. More live action Asian cinema is forthcoming, including Takeshi Miike's Crow Zero in April and Crow II in July.

Turning to the state of the industry, Kaze said brick and mortar sales for anime are dying, though there remains a niche, while MVM announced Amazon.co.uk had overtaken high street chain HMV as their biggest customer. Manga, however, felt that physical stores remained an important avenue for younger fans who lack their own credit cards. The option of selling in mass-market supermarkets was largely dismissed, with MVM's Allen revealing it means low profit margins and large inventory for the already-small anime industry.

The release of Akira has been the biggest recent sales success for not just Manga but the UK industry as a whole, with 12k Blu-ray copies sold in 2011 so far. While Akira's screening on the UK SyFy channel garnered a hefty 53,000 viewers at broadcast and another 30,000 through catch-up services, all agreed that bringing more anime to British TV screens was near impossible, with MVM revealing that UK TV companies' response to broadcasting anime was "worse than negative". Kaze will be pushing for some television exposure in 2012, largely through its French department, but said it was incredibly tough to do and there is no advertising money to be made.

Two 12-part anime series, one an SF action show, the other a Japanese historical drama, are released on DVD on Monday. Ride Back (right), released by Manga Entertainment, tells the story of a college student and her robot motorcycle in 2020, a tumultuous time of anti-government student protests. The original manga ran in Shogakukan's Ikki magazine from 2003 to 2008.

House of Five Leaves (left), released by Beez Entertainment, is a historical drama set in Japan's Edo period during the height of the Shōgun's rule. The series follows the lives of the House of Five Leaves gang members, focusing on the masterless samurai (rōnin) Akitsu Masanosuke who becomes the bodyguard of the gang's charismatic leader, Yaichi. Tomomi Mochizuki (Ocean Waves, Ranma ½) directed the series at Manglobe (Samurai Champloo). In Japan, it was screened in the Noitamina late-night anime slot on Fuji TV. The same is true of Beez's upcoming release Tatami Galaxy, due on November 21.

Manga Entertainment is also releasing "Collection 2" of Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya (right), the series of spoof mini-webisodes featuring chibi versions of the characters from the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise. The first Haruhi-Chan "collection" was included in the 4-disc box-set of the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which was released in July. On 19 December, Manga will release the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya second season and "Collection 1" of Haruhi-Chan Suzumiya separately.

(A different Haruhi release, the feature film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is now scheduled for November 7, next Monday, on DVD. A Blu-ray edition will appear on February 20 next year.)

On Thursday, the Japanese studio Toei Animation announced its earnings report for the current fiscal year's second quarter, which ended in September. Not only is the studio reporting the highest revenues for the first half of a fiscal year in its history, but it is projecting an all-time high for revenues for the entire year.

Toei broke down how much revenue its various franchises are bringing in so far this year:

Overseas Licensing Top 4 (2nd Quarter)
Dragon Ball 122 million yen US$1.61 million
One Piece 94 million yen US$1.24 million
Saint Seiya 61 million yen US$805,000
Pretty Cure 18 million yen US$238,000
All Franchises 399 million yen US$5.26 million
* Although these figures are for the second quarter, they include first quarter's revenues as well.

For comparison, Toei also posted the revenues, broken down by franchise, for the previous fiscal year. (Fiscal Year 2011 ran from April 2010 to March 2011.)

Overseas Licensing Top 4 (Fiscal Year 2011)
Dragon Ball 379 million yen US$5.00 million
One Piece 156 million yen US$2.06 million
Saint Seiya 113 million yen US$1.49 million
Pretty Cure 46 million yen US$607,000
All Franchises 604 million yen US$7.97 million

Toei also confirmed that its previously announced Niji-Iro Hotaru anime film is still in production. It also confirmed that its CG staff is working on the recently green-lit Saint Seiya film and this December's "One Piece 3D Gekisō Trap Coaster" event short.

The Japanese studio Toei Animation announced on Monday that it will release a new 3D anime short called "One Piece 3D Gekisō! Trap Coaster" at events starting December 1. The short will run about 12 minutes long and play at stereoscopic 3D theaters at Aichi Prefecture's Lagunasia theme park, Nagasaki Prefecture's Huis Ten Bosch theme park, Kanagawa Prefecture's Yokohama Landmark Tower, and Hiroshima Prefecture's NTT CRED Hall.

In March, Toei released the One Piece 3D: Mugiwara Chase anime short in a double-billing with Toriko 3D: Kaimaku Gourmet Adventure!! in theaters nationwide. The Lagunasia marine resort complex hosted a "One Piece Memorial Log in Lagunasia" attraction last year, and Huis Ten Bosch built a replica of the Thousand Sunny pirate ship from the anime and Eiichiro Oda's original manga this year.

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Included in the player above is a video made by the production crew of Doctor Who during the last few months of the Russell T Davies era. It was shown at the wrap party for The End of Time and has not been seen in public, until now! Included, amongst many others, in the video are: David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Elisabeth Sladen, Bernard Cribbins, Noel Clarke, Billie Piper, Timothy Dalton, John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Camille Coduri and John Simm.

Saturday, 29 October 2011

The North American anime distributor Funimation announced its acquisition of the next block of One Piece for English dubbing on Friday. Senior Brand Manager Curtis Shaw spoke live during the Unofficial One Piece Podcast and gave several new details about the upcoming season.

Funimation picked up where it left off at episode 206 and purchased all the way to episode 263. Shaw mentioned that the next season will be in high-definition and in 16 by 9 aspect ratio. Funimation would like to keep the same format for releases; however, with the upgraded aspect ratio and HD content, a Blu-ray/DVD combo release maybe possible down the line. Funimation will also try to keep as much consistency as possible with regard to the voice acting, but actor schedules and location will affect casting.

The official Disney XD website no longer lists the Stitch! anime series on its television schedule after Friday, October 28. The schedule only lists what is being aired until November 11, and it notes that the show will not be broadcast in the next two weeks.

The series had premiered on the channel on Monday and was slated to air on weekdays at 9:00 a.m. The channel aired five episodes of the series this week.

Stitch! is based on Disney's Lilo & Stitch! film. Disney co-produced the series with Japan's MADHOUSE anime studio.

Unlike the previous Lilo & Stitch! sequels which starred a Hawaiian girl named Lilo, the Stitch! series is based in a fictional island (not dissimilar to Japan's Okinawa) with a heroine named Yūna. The title character Stitch, a runaway alien test subject, remains largely unchanged in MADHOUSE's version.

The anime series spawned two sequel series in Japan: Stitch!: Itazura Alien no Daibōken and Stitch!: Zutto Saikō no Tomodachi. The original series premiered in Japan in 2008, and the two sequels premiered in Japan in 2009 and 2010

Director Steven Spielberg paid tribute to Tin-Tin co-writer Steven Moffat and his other British contributors: "Steven wrote one of my favourite TV shows, which is Dr Who. Peter (Jackson) and I felt whoever did Dr Who would have a good sensibility for Tintin. And it so happens Steven had read Tintin since he was eight. Even when he had to leave the Tintin project to get on with making Dr Who, I got two other Brits — Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright and Attack The Block's Joe Cornish — to finish the job. They're two great British writers." [The Sun, 24 Oct 2011]

Matt Smith commented on his view of last year's protagonists the Silence: "What is wonderful is that they toy with your psyche. They mess with what you know and don't know and what you can and can't remember - they can influence your mind. They look horrendous and are really mean. So if you're under the age of ten, a good sofa to hide behind is essential. That's what Doctor Who should be about: 'I don't want to watch this, but also I do!'" [Press Association, 27 Oct 2011]

A pair of trainers especially signed by David Tennant are to be auctioned on behalf of the Accord Hospice in Paisley, a charity which his parents are closely associated with and where his mother was taken care of when she was ill. [Paisley Daily Express, 27 Oct 2011]

The actor is also involved in filming for a sequel to the film Nativity, playing twin teachers from rival schools (one under-achieving, one "posh") in competion with each other for a national competition. The film once again prominently features the city of Coventry, and Tennant visited local Blue Coat School alongside director Debbie Isitt to meet children potentially appearing in the film. [Coventry Telegraph, 19 Oct 2011; Variety, 28 Oct 2011]

Arthur Darvill (Rory) will be playing Pierre in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Softcops, taking place at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on 30th October (11:30am). The play by Caryl Churchill was inspired by Michel Foucault’s theoretical book, Discipline and Punish, and explores the ways governments seek to depoliticise subversive acts. [Entertainment Focus, 25 Oct 2011]

John Barrowman commented on the continued success of his character, Captain Jack Harkness: "I can't believe it. I was only meant to be a five-episode character in Doctor Who and it's turned out to be a huge success in its own right with Torchwood and Captain Jack. The American audiences have taken to him. It's quite overwhelming and quite amazing to be a part of something like that to spread what I call the best of British television worldwide." [Coventry Telegraph, 25 Oct 2011]

Billie Piper (Rose) is to appear in Neil LaBute's play Reasons to be Pretty, due to open at the Almeida Theatre on 10th November. It has also been revealed by artistic director Michael Attenborough that the actress is expecting her second child: "She was upset and told me she was pregnant. She very generously offered to withdraw from the show; however, she was Neil LaBute’s and my first choice for the part — and fortunately the character is pregnant — so with a bit of judicious re-writing we’re all delighted she’ll be with us." [Daily Mail, 28 Oct 2011]

Michael Sheen (House, The Doctor's Wife) is to take on the role of Hamlet, played famously a couple of years ago by former Doctor David Tennant: "It’s the most dangerous play that exists, yet our culture has made it safe - what I want is to make it difficult and jagged again, unsettling and uncomfortable and disorienting for the audience." Speaking about the language of Shakespeare, he said: "We’ve debased our language in lots of ways now. We speak in not particularly expressive ways. The way people express themselves in Shakespeare’s plays is so rich and so tense. It takes more energy and uses more of yourself. It’s an investment and once you adjust to it, it becomes an incredible kinetic experience, really extraordinary. It works on your imagination and emotions just like music – you can be incredibly moved just because of the rhythms and notes." [Wales Online, 28 Oct 2011]

With speculation over Matt Smith's continuation as the Doctor after next series increasing since his comments to VH1, it is perhaps inevitable that potential contenders for the role would be discussed once more, including media favourites such as Paterson Joseph. [Indie Wire, 27 Oct 2011]

Today marks a month since the announcement that Doctor Who Confidential was to be cancelled, and also when the SaveDWC campaign kicked off to help persuade the BBC that the series was still worth producing.

The online petition has now passed 50,000 signatories, and the site reports the importance of today for the campaign:
Important News
Petition Count will be taken shortly after TODAY: Friday 28th October 2011

A COUNT will be taken shortly after this date and we will send this to the BBC Trust.

The petition will REMAIN OPEN after this time, we are simply taking account of all signatures shortly after this day so we can send a figure to the BBC. The BBC themselves may check for an updated amount so it is still very important to sign after this date even though the letter will have been sent to the BBC.
As well as signing the petition, people interested in the campaign can also follow and discuss issues via Twitter and Facebook.

Doctor Who's Head Writer Steven Moffat recently expressed his personal view of the cancellation in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, commenting on how the exploration of behind-the-scenes inspired him and many others (not least of which the 'next generation' of writers/producers/etc. as demonstrated by this year's Script to Screen initiative):
... Matt, Marcus and I went to a school to meet the winners of the Script to Screen competition, and see them watch their own work on screen. ... for once we weren't visitors from the impossible, unattainable world of television - because they'd been told they could be part of it too, and they'd even seen it happen. Out there, among all those children who took part in Script to Screen, possibilities opened and futures changed. Tell me what is more important than that?
...
When I was a kid, Doctor Who made me want to see behind the scenes. Seeing behind the scenes made me never want to leave, and one day, incredibly, got me the job of a lifetime. It did the same for Russell and David. And Mark and Gareth, and Neil, and Paul, and Toby, and Other Toby, and Chris, and Tom and Tom and Marcus and Piers and many more than I can count and it is going to keep doing that for as long as it is allowed.
His views were also picked up in the media, including Digital Journal, the Sun, and Unreality TV.

Friday, 28 October 2011

A new Puella Magi Madoka Magica Café unveiled its menu on Thursday. The café will be held from October 28 through early March 2012 on the fifth floor of the Akiba Cultures Zone building in Tokyo. The café will also feature Puella Magi Madoka Magica goods.

The café will feature the
following Madoka Magica-themed dishes, desserts, and drinks:

Kyubey Curry

Kyubey Cream Stew (with choice of rice or bread)

Kyubey Almond Jelly

Kyōko and Sayaka's Roll Cake

Kyōko Sakura's Sweets Set

Mami Tomoe's Sweets Set (comes with tea)

Soul Gem Jelly (one for each of the five main characters)

Soul Gem Drink (one for each of the five main characters)

Good Smile Café, the restaurant run by the figure maker Good Smile Company east of Tokyo, previously revamped itself into a Puella Magi Madoka Magica Café from May 3 until August 14.

The Japanese company SSS has revealed an original character on Thursday to support the victims in the Tohoku region of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The character is named Zunko Tohoku (pictured at right), and she is named after a specialty of the Tohoku region, zunda mochi (a sticky cake made out of mashed green soybeans). Zunko is copyright free, so anyone can use the character for free without needing permission from SSS to do so.

Zunko, who was drawn by illustrator Ninico Edomura, is described as a 17-year-old second-year high school student who loves archery. Her headband and bow are made of edamame, and she coats her arrows in zunda paste. When she shoots mochi with her zunda-tipped arrows, the mochi then turn into zunda mochi. Zunko's dream is to open a zunda café in Tokyo.

SSS has also released an app featuring Zunko on the Android Market. The application provides the latest news on the Tohoku region and on zunda mochi. The application also has a game where players can practice archery with Zunko and level her up to get access to Zunko wallpapers.

The Taiwanese airline EVA Airways is relaunching a line of three Hello Kitty airplanes this month. The outsides of the planes, along with the cabin, boarding passes, napkins, luggage tags, and flight attendant aprons will all feature Sanrio's Hello Kitty characters.

The "Hello Kitty With Magic Stars" plane (pictured at right) will service the Taipei-Hokkaido route, the "Hello Kitty Around the World" plane will service the Taipei-Tokyo and the Taipei-Hong Kong routes, and the "Hello Kitty Loves Apples" plane will service the Taipei-Fukuoka and the Taipei-Seoul routes.

The planes will commemorate EVA Airways' 20th anniversary and will be used to boost travel between Taiwan and Japan, which has decreased since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The airline originally launched a line of two Hello Kitty-themed airplanes in 2005 and 2006. Those planes were retired in 2008 and 2009.

FUNimation Entertainment announced on Thursday that the company's president and CEO Gen Fukunaga has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors for the online video game developer and publisher GameSamba. Fukunaga will be the first to take on the role at GameSamba.

Funimation and GameSamba had revealed in July that the two companies formed a "promotional partnership to cross promote their online game and anime titles to each other's audiences." Funimation featured GameSamba games at all of its events this summer, including San Diego Comic Con.

GameSamba's works include the massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) Remnant Knights and Realms Online, and the real-time strategy game Tribal Trouble 2. The company is based in Washington and has offices in North America and Taiwan.

The brand maker Sanrio previewed the first wave of the One Piece x Hello Kitty series of collaborative goods on Thursday. The series was originally announced in August, and the first 29 items — which range from 399-yen (about US$5.30) clear files to 3,465-yen (US$45.70) T-shirts — will launch on November 3. The concept of this collaboration has Chopper and the other characters from One Piece coming "to play in the world of Hello Kitty."

The official website for Takashi Miike's live-action film adaptation of CAPCOM's Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban) videogame franchise announced on Thursday that the rock band Porno Graffitti (pictured below) will contribute the film's theme song. Porno Graffitti had previously worked on the soundtracks for Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, Ghost Slayers Ayashi, and Great Teacher Onizuka.

The site also posted a photograph of Hiroki Narimiya (Gokusen's Noda, NANA's Nobu, Akihabara @ DEEP's Page) in his role as Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo), and it confirmed the February 11 release date for the film. Other cast members for the film include Takumi Saitō (RoboGeisha, Princess Princess D) as prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi) and Mirei Kiritani (Arakawa under the Bridge's Nino) as Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato).

The film will take place in a parallel Japan, where a large increase in harsh crimes has led to a new court system. Under this new system, the defense attorney and public prosecutor have three days to battle cases out in open court to determine guilt or innocence of the accused, placing priority on speed instead of thorough investigation.

The film studio Toei has said it plans to use a lot of computer graphics and visual effects in the courtroom scenes in order to make them more interesting, but it will still retain the games' signature lines such as "Igi Ari!" ("Objection!") and "Kurae!" ("Take That!")

People are saying this is Gokaiger Returns, but it looks more like the OVA special that will have Gokai Red Gold Mode.

Here is the pcitures fro Gokaiger vs. Gavan, looks like Braijara is back (BUT APPARENTLY IT IS GILS' DAD THE EMPEROR) and the red Zugormin.

Following are rumors:
Episode 42 Doc's past is revealed. Turns out he was a legendary hero who has lost his memory. Damaras, who was recently imprisoned set out to get revenge for the death of Walz. With Basco's help, Marvelous is captured, Joe, Ahim, Luka and Gai were also defeated and have gone MIA. Don is the only one remaining.

Episode 43 The Emperor plans on having a public execution on earth for Marvelous.

Mr. 005 of Rangerboard:
Basco makes an allusion to having gotten Fiveman and SunVulcan's great power. There is only one team left to find so he makes Marvelous look for them. This last team is Kakuranger, which means there will probably be a tribute episode

The BBC Press Office have now released information for this year's Children In Need, confirming that the evening will feature a (now traditional!) clip of the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special:
... Newsreaders Fiona Bruce, Emily Maitlis, Sophie Raworth and Sian Williams try their hand at ballroom and face Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Alesha Dixon with their own Strictly Challenge. Nick Knowles is in the studio for DIY SOS – The Big Build to celebrate their biggest makeover to date, and there's an exclusive sneak peek at the Doctor Who Christmas special.

Full details about the night can be read in the press release - though no specific details about the clip have been mentioned, previous years have provided the audience with a teaser scene from early in the episode.

This year's Children in Need evening is on Friday 18th November, kicking off from 7:30pm on BBC1 and BBC1HD.

Thursday, 27 October 2011

Time Traveler: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Masaaki Taniguchi's 2010 live-action film re-imagining of the same Yasutaka Tsutsui novel that inspired Mamoru Hosoda's anime film, will ship on DVD in the United States on January 24. Under the Asian Crush brand, the licensor Asian Media Rights and distributor Media Blasters will release this newest adaptation of the 1967 Japanese novel.

Riisa Naka, the actress who made her film debut as the lead voice in Hosoda's anime version, starred as a different character in the new live-action film. She played 18-year-old Akari Yoshiyama, the only daughter of the novel's heroine Kazuko. After a car accident puts Kazuko in a coma, Akari leaps back to the year 1974 to find Kazuko's first love.

Kyoto Seika University will open its Mangaku interactive manga community website on November 1. Users will be able to submit their original manga on the site as well as recommend and comment on others' works. Mangaku's goal is to provide an opportunity for readers to enjoy manga while learning the craft of creating it.

Contributed manga will receive reviews from Kyoto Seika University faculty as well as a chance for discussion of the works with manga author Keiko Takemiya (To Terra, Kaze to Ki no Uta, The Door Into Summer). The university's Faculty of Manga teaching staff, comprised of manga artists and editors, will manage the new website. Mangaku will also run contests for the contributed works.

Although the Kyoto university will operate the new website, its use will not be limited to Kyoto Seika University students and staff. Anyone can register for access to the site and the ability to contribute manga and use all of Mangaku's features. Opening manga learning to the public is one aim of the new interactive website.

Kyoto Seika University has a 40-year history of academic study in manga and animation. The university was first to install a specialized area of manga studies in 2000, and it then created a Faculty of Manga in 2006. It was also the first to establish a master's degree program in manga last year, when it accepted 20 students. In June, the university announced it will accept 4 to 12 students in a manga doctorate program in April of next year.

The British Museum in London is now running a free exhibition of manga by Yukinobu Hoshino, creator of Professor Munakata (Munakata Kyōju) and 2001 Nights. The exhibition, which continues until April 8 2012, consists of original drawings from Hoshino's strip Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure. Hoshino came to the museum in October 2009 to draw the adventure.

According to the British Museum page, "Hoshino has lent the Museum his finished drawings (genga) and sketches and even two of his fude brush pens which he used to draw this adventure. In this display you can see the development of Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure from conception to finished work. This is an exceptionally rare opportunity to uncover the process of how the first British Museum manga was created."

The British Museum Press plans to publish the translated ten-part series as a book. Its launch will be marked by a discussion of the manga in the Stevenson Lecture Theatre, on Friday November 25 at 6.30 p.m. The event features Nicole Rousmaniere of the British Museum, and will be introduced by comics critic Paul Gravett. The price is £5 (£3 for members and concessions).

Within the manga, Professor Munakata is a widowed scholar of folklore and history who travels the world on one adventure after another. In Japan, his British Museum adventure was serialised over five months in the fortnightly manga magazine Big Comic.

The Professor Munakata manga series began under the name Munakata Kyōju Denkikō (The Legendary Musings of Professor Munakata) in Ushio Shuppansha's Monthy Comic Tom and Monthly Comic Tom Plus magazine from 1995 to 1999. The manga later relaunched in 2004 under the name Munakata Kyōju Ikōroku (The Case Records of Professor Munakata) in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine, where it continues to this day.

The British museum previously ran an exhibition of Hoshino's work from November 2009 to January 2010.

The newest single from the AKB48 idol group, titled "Kaze wa Fuiteiru," sold more than one million copies on its first day of release on Wednesday. The song is the group's support song for the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

The single sold 1,046,000 copies on its first day of release, making it the second single from the group to accomplish that feat. AKB48's previous single "Flying Get" sold 1,026,000 copies on its first day.

Each of AKB48's singles released this year have gone on to sell more than one million copies total.

AKB48 has been performing live support concerts every month since May in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, two of the prefectures that were the hardest hit by the disaster. The group took out full-page advertisements on Wednesday in all of Japan's morning newspapers to advertise the single.

The following anime and manga-related events are scheduled at MCM Expo from Friday October 28 to Sunday October 30. The event is at the ExCel Centre, ten minutes from Canary Wharf in the London Docklands. A full programme can be found in the Show Guide, available as an ebook here.

- Voice actor Vic Mignogna, best known as the dub voice of Edward Elric in the different anime versions of Fullmetal Alchemist, will appear on the Comic/Anime stage, from 1600-1630 on Saturday and 1500-1545 on Sunday. He will be doing signings at the following times: Saturday 1200-1345 and 1500-1600; Sunday 1100-1200 and 1400-1500. All signings will take place at the Manga stand (845).

- The Euro Cosplay Final on Saturday will be at 1700 in the MCM Theater, followed by the Cosplay Masquerade on Sunday at 1600. There will also be a Masquerade on the Totally Cosplay stage on Saturday at 1300-1400.

- The Totally Cosplay stage also hosts a Q&A with the EuroCosplay judges on Sunday at 1000-1030, and the EuroCosplay winners at 1200-1300.

- As previously announced, the British singer Beckii Cruel will be performing her new single, "U Can't Kiss Me," (released on Monday). She will also perform a medley of her YouTube dances. She will appear on the Totally Cosplay stage: Saturday 1130-1230, Sunday 1300-1400.

- Gaming events take place at the Gamespot UK stage. They include a demo/Q&A session on the game Asura's Wrath on Saturday, 1000-1030; another on Ultimate Marvel vs CAPCOM 3 at 1100-1130 the same day; and another on Street Fighter X Tekken at 1330-1400 the same day. The latter takes place before a Street Fighter X Tekken tournament at 1400-1430.

The official website for the K-ON! anime franchise announced on Wednesday that the clothes retailer Avail will begin selling official K-ON! men's boxer briefs, among other items, on November 23. Avail's 259 nationwide stores for casual wear and shoes will offer the following:

K-ON! Ladies' Room-Wear Set (sweat jacket and sweat pants): 1,880 yen (about US$24.80), Sizes M/L
K-ON! Ladies' Socks: 380 yen (US$5.00), Sizes 23-25 cm (9-10 inches)
K-ON! Men's Boxer Briefs: 980 yen (US$12.90), Sizes M/L
K-ON! Men's Socks: 380 yen (US$5.00), Sizes 25-27 cm (10-11 inches)
Each item will come in five styles — one for each member of the anime's high school band Ho-kago Tea Time, and all items are in Japanese sizes. However, the men's items will not be available at Avail's Hakata Bus Terminal and Sakae Nova shops.

The K-ON! site also began streaming the ending theme "Singing!" for the upcoming film. The audio preview begins with comments by the five members of Ho-kago Tea Time.

In addition to the previously revealed K-ON! menu at Denny's family restaurants, the fast food chain Lotteria will offer an original Ho-kago Tea Time menu. The first wave of the campaign will launch on November 17 with a 1,000-yen (US$13) Ho-kago Tea Time set that has Corn Karaagetto, Ho-kago Tea Time milk tea shake, french fries with butter-bacon seasoning (shaken with the fries in a bag), and Lotteria's limited original K-ON! badge.

The Yano Research Institute posted its 2011 report on the Japanese "otaku marketplace" on October 7.

Out of 10,102 people who responded to Yano's survey, 2,581 or 25.5% answered yes to the following question: "Do you think that you are an 'otaku' or have you been called an 'otaku' by other people?" That is an increase of 5.1% from last year. Yano Ressearch attributed the increase in otaku and the expansion of the otaku marketplace to "light otaku" or casual fans.

In particular, the online gaming segment jumped 40.5% to 299.4 billion yen in 2010. The rise in the number of social gamers, social game content, smartphone adoption rate, and smartphone content all contributed to the jump.

Dating simulation game segment rose 30.2% to 11.1 billion yen. Female-targeted mobile phones games catered to general female audiences as well as otaku players.

The electronic comics segment also continued to grow at 28.0% to 54.0 billion yen. Yano cited the increase of available content, the tablet/smartphone adoption rates, and lower costs (compared to print) as selling points.

Maid- and cosplay-related services came in 10.7% higher or 9.3 billion yen, due to the popularity of convenient stores that targeted the mainstream buyers as well as traditional maid/cosplay shops.

Update: The part of the survey on whether people consider themselves "otaku" was conducted in August among 10,102 "general consumers" nationwide, ages 15 to 69. The sample was divided by gender and age range in proportion to Japan's population statistics, and was not self-selected. This part of the survey was separate from the rest of the research on the otaku marketplace, and it was not limited to people interested in those otaku areas.

In honor of the K-ON! film, which opens December 3 in Japan, the Denny's chain of family restaurants in Japan will sell dishes celebrating the anime in November and December. Denny's November menu will offer "Shrimp and Oyster Crispy-Fried Doria" (a baked rice-based dish with white sauce) for 890 yen (about US$12). The food's Japanese name kaki fry or "fried oyster" plays on kakifly, the pen name of the K-ON! high school slice-of-life manga's creator.

Customers who order the doria will receive one of two exclusive K-ON! film coasters in limited quantities. From November 1 to 15, the Denny's restaurants will give out a Christmas-themed coaster with the main K-ON! characters in Santa Claus outfits. Customers will receive a K-ON! coaster with a snowy winter backdrop from November 16 to 30.

From December 1 to 25, Denny's menus in Japan will include the "Creamy Home-Made Fruit Trifle", and customers who order the dish will receive a special K-ON! glass tag. Those who order the item will also be able to enter the "Denny's Original Goods Prize Campaign". Denny's will post the campaign's details on its homepage in mid-November.

Last year, Japan's Denny's website featured a picture of four girls with striking similarities to the K-ON! anime and manga franchise's Hōkago Teatime ("Afterschool Teatime") band.

kakifly's comedy manga received television anime series in 2009 and 2010 before the film adaptation was green-lit last year.

A new book looking at the world of Doctor Who at the conclusion of the first season in 1964, is now available online.

The Wonderful Book of Doctor Who 1965 is a homage to Clayton Hickman's Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2011 published last year.

The new fan produced book looks back at the very first season of Doctor Who and imagines how such a book would have looked should it have been published for the Christmas 1964 market. It contains episode guides, interviews and fact files.

It has been written and produced by Paul Smith based on the original designs by Paul Lang, with a cover and story illustrations by Joe Cannon from Velvet Jacket

2|Entertain have revealed plans for the DVD release of the incomplete Fourth Doctor adventure Shada, which would have been the finale to the seventeenth season back in 1980; commenting on Twitter via ClassicDW:
Plans are to release the SHADA fragments together with MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS in a box filled with other content goodies! Likely 2012.

Development for this DVD includes the usual making-of feature (as illustrated), with Chris Chapman reporting: "To further whet your appetites, our Shada doco is called Death Comes to Time and was shot (mostly) on location in Cambridge!"

The Restoration Team have also continued to reveal tantalising glimpses of DVD development via Twitter; news snippets include:
The Sensorites will contain a feature entitles Looking for Peter, a "Who Do You Think You Are?" style documentary on the writer of the story, Peter R. Newman.
The Nicholas Courtney documentary will be presented by Michael McManus, friend and co-writer for the actor's auto-biography Still Getting Away With It.
Terror of the Zygons is not expected to be released during 2012.

The Restoration Team on Twitter:
THE REIGN OF TERROR

10 Oct Chris Chapman Editing our Reign of Terror doco today - a particularly
gripping behind the scenes story to tell! Poor old Henric...
10 Oct Chris Chapman Reign of Terror making-of (aka Don't Lose Your Head) coming
together nicely. Now if only I can find a photo of Henric Hirsch!
11 Oct Chris Chapman Back into the Reign of Terror edit - Tim Combe always
fantastic value as an interviewee!
11 Oct Chris Chapman Off-off-line edit of doco 'Don't Lose Your Head' is all done
and now winging its way to my editor Richard Alderson in Newcastle!
18 Oct Chris Chapman My notes on our rough cut of the Reign of Terror doco
include "MORE GUILLOTINE!"
21 Oct Chris Chapman Our Reign of Terror making-of is looking lovely! Really happy
with the story on this one - and all the chopping. :-)
24 Oct Chris Chapman Reign of Terror doco 'Don't Lose Your Head' will go over to ClassicDW
tomorrow - it's turned out a lot better than I thought it would!
26 Oct ClassicDW Further rough cuts to view. This one is from Chris Chapman.
For what revolutionary title it might be for. :) http://t.co/l8w8VtAR
26 Oct Chris Chapman Lovely notes back from ClassicDW for our Reign of Terror doco
'Don't Lose Your Head' - all signed off! :-)

VENGEANCE ON VAROS SE

26 Oct ClassicDW Viewing rough-cut of main VAM for Vengeance on Varos SE, made by
Thomas and Simon Guerrier. http://t.co/gme51Rv2

THE SENSORITES

21 Oct Chris Chapman The Sensorites contents has been announced - including our
new doco 'Looking for Peter' - presented by Toby Hadoke.
21 Oct Chris Chapman It's not a making of... more of a Doctor Who Do You Think You Are!
21 Oct Ed Stradling "Looking for Peter", just announced for The Sensorites
is one of the best DVD docs yet. So Buy it!
25 Oct ClassicDW Moving menus for SENSORITES looking great and signed-off. Oh, no!
Region 4 test discs for UNIT won't play in DVD player. :-)
25 Oct ClassicDW Here's a quick look at one of the menus for THE SENSORITES! http://t.co/Yp4u7HXF

11 Oct Chris Chapman Now starting content cut on my next doco - this one
not quite announced yet. Great interviewees on this and a great story to tell!
12 Oct Chris Chapman Currently working on three Doctor Who edits at the same time!
Have a good feeling about all three - proper meaty stories to tell!
12 Oct Chris Chapman Just editing one AMAZING interviewee for a doco - this gentleman
is a massively impressive 94 years old!
12 Oct Chris Chapman here's a clue: none of them are Delta and the Bannermen.
I can also confirm that they all feature a human cast.
12 Oct Chris Chapman we've done Death to the Daleks already.:-)
13 Oct Chris Chapman A fun day ahead! I'm off to the BBC's written archives at Caversham
to examine old production documents and memos for two docos.
13 Oct Chris Chapman The fact that the BBC kept so much paperwork is AMAZING -
but odd as they junked the episodes themselves!
13 Oct Chris Chapman both docos are for previously unreleased DVDs - not Revisitations.
And they're both 1960s adventures.
13 Oct Chris Chapman Trip to the archives concluded - one story particularly well-served,
the other not so much. Still, always a worthwhile trip!
13 Oct Chris Chapman Did I mention that classic Doctor Who production goddess Margot Hayhoe
is now on Twitter? Follow her!
13 Oct ClassicDW To stop the rumour here and now, Zygons is not scheduled for 2012.
Too much other great content to fit it in that year!
13 Oct Chris Chapman Are we going to reveal the year's schedule in DWM again this year?
14 Oct Ed Stradling Off for a run and then it's back to editing the Nick Courtney
tribute doc, presented by Michael McManus
14 Oct Restoration Team lunch with ClassicDW - forward planning!
14 Oct ClassicDW Working lunch with the Restoration Team to discuss 2012 and 2013.
If you're sitting behind us, sssssh! Don't tell. :-)
15 Oct ClassicDW Home of 5 Docs, City of Death, 3 Docs, Genesis... TC6!!! http://t.co/GupjkJPk
15 Oct Ed Stradling Terror of the Zygons DVD taking shape, Main work due early 2012.
It will be my last work on the range after 9 years.
15 Oct Ed Stradling no plans for a CGI Skarasen at this stage I'm afraid
15 Oct Ed Stradling the DVD range comes to an end soon and Zygons is my last commission.
Then it's time for me to do something else!
17 Oct Chris Chapman Back on the edit for our new doco (a secret one for now) -
coming together nicely and it now has a title!
17 Oct ClassicDW Signed off sleeve text for Special Editions of TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN
and THE THREE DOCTORS
17 Oct Chris Chapman So our three docos continue through the edit! Secret number 1
nearly done, Reign of Terror looking good and Secret 2 shaping up!
18 Oct Chris Chapman I'm all done on the Secret 2 rough cut now - running to
around 33 minutes at present, quite a story to tell! :-)
19 Oct ClassicDW Just found in the DVD archives whilst having a clear-out.
Thought you'd enjoy! http://t.co/zPpcZh4d
20 Oct Chris Chapman I reckon I'll be starting work on the edit tomorrow for our
25th doco... Mental!
25 Oct Chris Chapman Today's ClassicDW titbits... Reign of Terror doc's grade is rendering,
Dan Hall is viewing SecretProject1 and archive is capturing for SP2!
25 Oct Chris Chapman I wonder if ClassicDW has watched our new doco yet... (SP1)
what happens if he hates it...? I guess I could redo it with puppets...
25 Oct Chris Chapman Busy Who day tomorrow - hoping to master SP-1, upload Reign of Terror
doco to the boss, sound mix SP-0 and begin the main edit on SP-2!
26 Oct Chris Chapman So with Reign and Shada done, our remaining production slate
for Doctor Who is Secret Project 2, SP3 and Greatest Show in the Galaxy!

2|Entertain is launching the first official range of themed parties to celebrate the release of the Complete Doctor Who Series 6 on DVD and Blu-ray:

Scores of fans can sign up to host a Doctor Who themed party in their own home when the new initiative put together by marketing company Come Round launches this week. For aspiring young Doctors, Amys and Rorys these official party packages will the perfect way to celebrate their love of the show.

The first 400 to sign-up will receive an exclusive party pack containing official Doctor Who merchandise, tailored game suggestions, posters and more – the perfect kit to host the perfect party.

Furthermore, all the first 400 will be given exclusive access to stream special never-seen-before DVD extras before the DVD becomes available to the British public. The four Monster File previews are 10 to 15 minutes each and will be part of the exclusive pack given to the winners to share with guests of their party.

Launched just before the much anticipated boxset hits the shops, the first-ever official Doctor Who parties will take place on the 19th and 20th November 2011. For those not lucky enough to get a hosting pack, special ‘print at home’ kits will be available so anyone can don a bow tie or a River Song mask to join in the fun in their own home.

The Parties are only available to UK residents, who can sign up to join via the Come Round website. Full terms and conditions can be found on the website.

Other manga female respondents answered as being moe manga included Maria-sama ga Miteru, Yotsuba&!, Toradora!, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Rozen Maiden.
Cobs Online similarly asked men in their 20s what manga they think is moe, and the top five results in that poll out of 236 respondents were: K-ON!, Lucky Star, Strawberry Marshmallow, Hayate the Combat Butler, and Azumanga Daioh. Other manga male respondents answered as being moe included Rozen Maiden, Aria, Minami-ke and Negima! Magister Negi Magi.

The Japanese company Ateam has launched a brand of vitamins called "Moe Supli" (Moe Supplement), which features different vitamins anthropomorphized as moe characters. The characters are named after the vitamins they represent, such as "Sister Milk" for calcium, "Karotte-chan" for beta-carotene (pictured at right), and "VB Sisters" for vitamins B1, B2, B6, and B12.

Artists such as Yuki Azuma, Nankotsu Misakura, Yōsai Kūchū, and MAKI worked on the character designs for the brand.

Currently, three vitamin supplement packages are being offered:

Men's Supplement pack that comes with zinc and vitamin E
Multi Mineral pack that comes with magnesium, iron, and copper
Eye Care pack that comes with bilberry extract
The Men's Supplement and Milti Mineral packs are being sold for 1,280 yen (about US$17), and the Eye Care pack is being sold for 1,480 yen (about US$19.50). Each pack come with 60 tablets and bundles two trading cards featuring the moe vitamin characters, with some cards being autographed by the character designers. The website is currently taking pre-orders for the packs, which will be shipped on November 11.

The website is also featuring the characters in a manga, drawn by Kotora Suzune.

Disney began streaming a trailer for the North American-dubbed version of Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ghibli's Arrietty film on Tuesday. The film, which will be titled The Secret World of Arrietty, will receive a theatrical run in North America starting on February 17.

The movie originally opened in Japanese theaters in July 2010 with supervision by Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. The film also received a different English dub in the U.K. and ran in theaters there in August.

The film re-imagines Mary Norton's 1952 novel The Borrowers by moving the story to a Tokyo suburb. The story revolves around Arrietty, a member of the "little people" who live under the floorboards of a regular human family's home, and their struggle to remain hidden from the human "beans."

Producer Frank Marshall revealed in January that Bridgit Mendler is voicing the title character. Joining her in the cast are Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, David Henrie, and Carol Burnett.

Manga creator Tohru Fujisawa (GTO) will launch a new series called Shibuya Hachikō-Mae -another side- (In Front of Shibuya Station's Hachikō Exit -another side) in the January issue of ASCII Media Works' digital magazine Dengeki Comic Japan on November 25. The story centers around Aoyama, the #1 scout for girls who work at cabaret clubs in Tokyo's trendy Shibuya ward. Aoyama "roams the streets to find beautiful blooming flowers in the world" of Tokyo's nightlife.

Tokyopop published Fujisawa's GTO in North America. In 2009, Fujisawa returned to the character of Onizuka with Shonan 14 Days. Vertical announced in May that it licensed both GTO: Shonan 14 Days and Shonan Junai-gumi (the predecessor to Great Teacher Onizuka) for North America. Fujisawa just finished Shonan 14 Days this year, but he is launching a three-chapter spinoff next month.

The next issue of Dengeki Comic Japan will also have a new manga series called Fairy Jewel by Narumi Kakinouchi (Vampire Miyu). ASCII Media Works launched the magazine last December, and it is viewable on smartphones, the Apple iPad and iPhone, and personal computers.

The Japanese anime studio Toei Animation announced on Tuesday that it is revising its earnings forecast higher for the current fiscal year ending in March of 2012. Specifically, it is revising its estimated revenues for the second half of the year higher — and as a result, it projects that it will have the highest annual revenues in the company's history.

The company specifically credited the strong performance of the anime franchises One Piece and Suite Precure. Projected revenues from One Piece character goods, events, and DVDs have increased for the second half.

Toei Animation had already announced a revision to its earnings forecast on July 25. Between the two revisions, Toei has raised its projected revenues for the current fiscal year over 37% from the initial 21.1 billion yen (US$277 million) estimate. Last fiscal year, the studio reported annual revenues of 26.622 billion

An advertisement for a digitally remastered boxset of Dragon Ball Z has been removed from the MCM Expo guide. Additionally, Manga Entertainment has claimed on Twitter that the information is "not true."

Between 1984 and 1995, Akira Toriyama created 519 installments of the original manga for the publisher Shueisha and its Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The manga's 42 compiled volumes have sold over 150 million copies in Japan and over 300 million copies worldwide. Both the manga and its anime adaptations (Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) have enjoyed success in countries in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Update: This article has been updated to reflect the removal of the advertisement and Manga Entertainment's position on the matter.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

A "live" performance of the virtual Japanese idol singer Hatsune Miku will be screened at London's Apollo Piccadilly cinema on November 29, according to the website of the distributor Live Viewing.

The event is part of a world tour for the virtual Vocaloid singer, who appears in the concert film "Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011 39's LIVE in SAPPORO." (The film shows an event which took place in northern Japan in August.) The U.K. screening follows a theatrical simulcast of the film in nine U.S. cities on November 10, and other Hatsune Miku screenings from Sao Paolo to Paris.

This multi-country concert screening celebrates the November 16 Japanese release of the "Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011" Blu-ray/DVD/CD package. The bundle will include a recording of a Hatsune Miku concert that took place in Tokyo, as well as the Sapporo concert. The retail price of the package is 7,770 yen (about U.K.£63).

Hatsune Miku performed a sold-out multi-projector concert this year at Anime Expo in Los Angeles on July 2, which is also receiving a Blu-ray, DVD, and CD release at the end of the year. The event was based on the "Miku no Nichi Kanshasai 39's Giving Day" concert in 2010, Hatsune Miku's first solo concert. The virtual idol also appeared "live" in concert in Japan, the United States, and other countries via a traditional screen in 2009.

Sentai Filmworks confirmed on Monday that it has licensed the Mashiro-Iro Symphony - The color of lovers television anime series. Sentai Filmworks noted the series will be available digitally "soon," and it will release the series on subtitled DVD in 2012.

The story of the original Mashiro-Iro Symphony romance adventure game centers around a boy named Shingo Uryū who goes to an academy — that is merging with a prestigious girl's school in the same town. Shingo is among the boys selected to attend the girl's school in a temporary integration trial before the schools' actual merger.

Eiji Suganuma (Kodomo no Jikan, Sasameki Koto) is directing the series at the studio Manglobe. Toshie Kawamura (The World God Only Knows, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart) is handling the character design and is the series' chief animation director. The anime premiered in Japan on October 4.

Palette and character designer Tsubasu Izumi (Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka) released the original game for Microsoft Windows in 2009, and Comfort ported it to the Sony PSP portable console under the name Mashiro-Iro Symphony *mutsu-no-hana in June.

Crunchyroll is currently simulcasting the series in the United States and Canada. Crunchyroll had listed the series on its page for Sentai Filmworks when it announced the simulcast on Friday.

The distribution company Live Viewing Japan will stage a theatrical simulcast of the "Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011 39's LIVE in SAPPORO" virtual idol concert video in nine major U.S. cities on November 10 at 7:00 p.m. (local time). The original Vocaloid idol performance event, organized by 5pb., took place in northern Japan in August. This multi-country concert screening celebrates the November 16 Japanese release of the "Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011" Blu-ray/DVD/CD package. The concert will screen in select theaters in the following cities:

Locations outside the United States will also host screenings of the concert film including Bangkok, Thailand (SF World Cinema) on October 30, Sao Paolo, Brazil (UCI Cinemas Jardim Sul) on November 5, and Paris, France (CGR Torcy) on November 9.

The "Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011" Blu-ray/DVD/CD bundle will include a recording of a Hatsune Miku concert that took place in Tokyo on May 9 as well as the Sapporo concert event that took place on August 16 - 17. The retail price of the package is 7,770 yen (about US$100).

Hatsune Miku performed a sold-out multi-projector concert this year at Anime Expo in Los Angeles on July 2, which is also receiving a Blu-ray, DVD, and CD release at the end of the year. The event was based on the "Miku no Nichi Kanshasai 39's Giving Day" concert in 2010, Hatsune Miku's first solo concert. The virtual idol also appeared "live" in concert in Japan, the United States, and other countries via a traditional screen in 2009.

E-Tele, the educational channel of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, will launch a two-part music reality show special called School Live Show for Teens "Keion" this Saturday. The guests will include former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman and his tour mate Takayoshi Ōmura, the composer and bassist Akihito Tokunaga (Getbackers, Saiyuki Reload), and the drummer "CHARGEEEEEE." The comedy duo Savanna will host the show with voice work by Takanori Nishikawa — the artist better known as T.M.Revolution — and narrator Ippo Onodera.

The special (part of E-Tele's ongoing School Live Show programs) will profile seven real-life high school bands in Osaka and pit them in a battle of the bands. The bands must perform cover songs of Mick Jagger and Momoe Yamaguchi; Friedman, Tokunaga, and the other guests will then crown the winner. Friedman and Tokunaga will also hold what NHK describes as a "must-see" special session.

During the show, AKB48 idol group member Sae Miyazawa will file a "AKB48 no Totsugeki Report" from the light music club (kei ongaku-bu) of a noted high school in Tokyo.

This reality show is separate from Toyosato Keion Koshien, a nationwide high school light music band competition in Japan which will be held at the real-life model for the K-ON! anime's school next month. The Shirouto Meikan television variety program scouted real high school bands to find a "live-action" K-ON for a June episode, and television host Danny Choo filmed a similar premise last year.

According to a poll from the business services company Riskmonster and RJC Research, the game maker Nintendo tops the list of companies that Japanese female students want to their future husbands to work at. The poll was conducted online from September 10 to September 12 among 500 men and women from 20 to 64 years old.

The top workplace overall in the poll for spouses (or future spouses) was the electronics conglomerate Panasonic with a comparative score of 26.8, followed by the car maker Toyota Motor (23.2), the electronics maker Sony (23.2), the wireless service NTT Docomo (22.8), and the electronics maker Sharp (22.4). When asked why, the top free-response answers included "to hold a steady job," "future prospects," and "pay is good."

However, Japanese female and male students ranked their future spouses' companies differently:

Sad times. Sitting in the #DoctorWhoConfidential edit suite. Is this really for the last time?

Does this imply that there will be a Christmas Special for 2011? I think so, this certainly will be good news for many Doctor Who Confidential fans. After all, filming for the Christmas special finished nearly 2 weeks ago, what else would he be editing right now?

If people would also like to argue that this is Rahim clearing out his office, there is also this tweet that I didn't notice from the 23rd October -

RahimMastafa Rahim Mastafa
Looking forward to working on some #DoctorWhoConfidential stuff this week. Hope it won't be the last time...

We will add more details about this, as it is revealed.
Thanks to Richard Binnington & Ryan Woodley

Spread the word, Doctor Who Confidential will come back...for Christmas at least!

The sixth series of Doctor Who has arrived in Spain, with Syfy España broadcasting episodes on Monday evenings, dubbed into Spanish; the series kicked off last Monday with El astronauta imposible and continues tonight with El dia de la Luna at 9:30pm (CEST), repeated tomorrow at 5:00pm and Saturday at 11:00am.

More details can be found from SyFy's Doctor Who page, and channel information is also available via Facebook.

(Series Six Trailer, Syfy-España, via their Doctor Who website)
Series Description:

Doctor Who is a flamboyant adventurer able to travel through time and space. In each of his travels and his partner Amy Who will live exciting adventures that lead them to face all kinds of aliens and monsters.

La sexta temporada conmemorará el 50° aniversario de la primera emisión de Doctor Who, una serie de culto que ha entretenido a generaciones con una mezcla de fantasía, ciencia, historia y aventura. En esta temporada, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) y Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13), serán dos de las estrellas invitadas. Además, el escritor Neil Gaiman, ha sido el encargado de escribir el cuarto capítulo de la temporada, que se emitirá en España el día 7 de noviembre y será uno de los momentos más esperados por los fans de la serie.
The longest running series returns to television with all its players. In this sixth season, after the wedding of Amy and Rory, they will receive 3 mysterious messages urging them to congregate in one location in the Utah desert. You will discover a secret that will make their destinations. The new adventures of Dr. Who will lead you to meet President Nixon, travel on a pirate ship, discover that in the future of mankind makes use of cloning, and live one of the key moments of the twentieth century in Europe before the second world war.

The sixth season will mark the 50th anniversary of the first issue of Doctor Who, a series of worship that has entertained generations with a mixture of fantasy, science, history and adventure. This season, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13), will be among the guest stars. Furthermore, the writer Neil Gaiman, has been commissioned to write the fourth chapter of the season to be broadcast in Spain on 7th November, and will be one of the most anticipated by fans of the series.

Next week sees the Doctor encounter La maldicion del punto negro.

As well as the most recent series, Syfy España is also currently showing Series Three episodes daily.

Meanwhile Boing has just completed a run of the fifth series (with La Pandorica se abre/El Big Bang currently available to watch online), and commence a new run of episodes next Saturday.

The second story in the recent series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Curse of Clyde Langer, had an official audience of 0.76 million viewers, according to Barb.

The figures are an increase on last year's second story, The Vault of Secrets, which had 0.67 million watching, and an increase on the previous weeks episodes. The two Sarah Jane episodes topped the CBBC chart for the week, with Episode One of The Curse of Clyde Langer getting 0.793 million watching and Episode Two getting 0.733 million.

Third placed Tracy Beaker got 0.433 million watching and Sunday's repeat of The Sarah Jane adventures had 0.402 million watching.

The Series has yet to be shown on the main channel, BBC One and the figures do not include those watching on iPlayer.

A box-set edition of the 12-part series Dance in the Vampire Bund is released by Manga Entertainment on Monday. The anime adapts Nozomu Tamaki's manga about a vampire princess who wants to create a special district for her kind off the coast of Japan, despite the terrorists and rival factions arrayed against her. The BBFC has rated the series 15 uncut due to "strong sex references" and "strong violence and nudity."

Manga Entertainment is also releasing a box-set of Black Butler II, the sequel to Black Butler, and Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino OVA, a 48-minute OAV extending the previous Gunslinger Girl TV series. One other new release is a ten-disc box-set of The Adventures of Hello Kitty, released by Delta Home Entertainment.

Last month, an unofficial site launched to allow visitors to make their own customized Yu-Gi-Oh! card image files. The site lets users upload an image, choose a card type, create a name, and write up points, levels, and attributes — complete with the furigana (the miniature text provided as a pronunciation guide for words) that authentic Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! cards have. The site even offers to emulate the holographic printing and other details on rare cards. After previewing the card image, the user can then save the resulting file. Gigazine posted a card image (picture below) that it created for itself.

During the creation process, the site asks users to consent to an agreement: "Commercial use is strictly prohibited. Please use this at your own risk. This site accepts no responsibility in the event that there is any trouble arising from the use of the images produced."

Last year, Konami Digital Entertainment sued Upper Deck Co. for producing and distributing counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards that were not authorized by their contract. Konami then terminated its contract with Upper Deck Co. and directly distributed Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in North America.

In a twitter message, Manga Entertainment said that it was "pretty sure Clannad will get a U.K. DVD release next year."

Directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and scripted by Fumihiko Shimo, the slice of life anime is based on a visual novel franchise from the software developer Key (Air, Kanon). Its main characters are Tomoya Okazaki, a troubled third year high schooler, and his student acquaintances. The TV version was broadcast in October 2007, a month after a cinema version of the story was released, and it was followed by the sequel series Clannad After Story in 2008.

The 48th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine is announcing on Wednesday that Tohru Fujisawa is launching his GTO: Shonan 14 Days manga spinoff in the next issue under the title Black Diamond. The new three-chapter story will be a school action story with two characters from GTO: Shonan 14 Days, the twins Riko and Miko Sakaki, and the advertising says that the keywords are "high school girls" and "auction."

GTO: Shonan 14 Days served as the sequel to Fujisawa's original Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) manga series until it ended earlier this year. Fujisawa launched GTO in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 1997, and Kodansha released 25 volumes through 2002. Tokyopop published GTO in North America. In 2009, Fujisawa returned to the character of Onizuka with Shonan 14 Days. Vertical announced in May that it licensed both GTO: Shonan 14 Days and Shonan Junai-gumi (the predecessor to Great Teacher Onizuka) for North America.

The Zap2it and TV Guide television listings for the Disney XD channel in the United States report that Stitch! — the anime series based on Disney's Lilo & Stitch! film — will premiere this Monday. Disney co-produced the series with Japan's MADHOUSE anime studio. The series will air on Disney XD on weekdays at 9:00 a.m. starting on Monday, October 24.

Unlike the previous Lilo & Stitch! sequels which starred a Hawaiian girl named Lilo, the Stitch! series is based in a fictional island (not dissimilar to Japan's Okinawa) with a heroine named Yūna. The title character Stitch, a runaway alien test subject, remains largely unchanged in MADHOUSE's version.

The anime series spawned two sequel series in Japan: Stitch!: Itazura Alien no Daibōken and Stitch!: Zutto Saikō no Tomodachi. The original series premiered in Japan in 2008, and the two sequels premiered in Japan in 2009 and 2010.

Gokaiger VS Gavan has been confirmed, Gobusters are likely to show up in the film, as their debut

-The Gobusters' henshin device is known as the "Mission Paneler" When the "Change Panel" is pushed, the Gobusters suits appear!

-The Gobusters are composed of GobusRed, GobusBlue, GobusYellow, GobusGreen, and GobusWhite. Based on previous info, Green and White may join a little after, or be the rumored "partners" of the main team.

The Rangers practice their symbol powers on paper and make Water, Rock, Fire and Wind real. But Mike is not good at it. He asks Jii for Pizza but no go. The Nighlok explain their overall plan in their headquarters. Mike and Kevin spar. Ava tells them they can't find Emily so the gang go searching. Mike gets distracted by good. A bus stops and Spike gets off. He is welcomed by his 'Uncle' Bulk. He calls him his 'favorite nephew' and they have a warmhearted reunion. Bulk asks about Skull and he says 'great.' Bulk tells Spike to watch where he is going and hits a pole. Mike Kevin and Mia bump into each other. They realize Kevin is serious about being a Samurai. Mia says she wants her Prince Charming. She brings up Kevin swimming in the Olympics and asks if he misses it. He says no. They find her outside practicing in public in a park. Kevin is proud.

Emily says she would work hard for her big sister, explaining she was to be the Yellow Ranger in a cheery voice. Spike says that his father told him that Bulk could make him great and then he laughed for 20 minutes. Bulk says he has history with the Power Rangers and watched lots of Samurai movies and he teach him to be a Samurai Power Ranger. A monster attacks and the Rangers head off there. Yellow fights some moogers and her Earth Slicer heads towards Jayden, getting him harmed. She comes to his aid. The monster is about to attack Jayden and Emily stands to cover, with the others coming to her aid. Four power-down and Jayden rallies them. He tells Mia to stay to take care of Emily. Jayden goes to protect a little girl, and returns her to her mother. The four get inspired and transform again. They use their spin swords to take care of his first life.

They form the Megazord but instead, make a tower. Kevin realizes he made a mistake. The monster knocks them all down. Jayden makes the symbol to combine them. Monster calls for Moogers. They save the day and back at home, they congrat each other. Emily is bummed because she 'almost let them down.' Jayden says he was good. Mike says he learned a new symbol and makes sprinkles and he says 'Part-ay' and dances around.

Important episode explaining each Kanji, you would think this was important to air before the other episodes. Oh well! This is the only episode aired so far that Bulk has mentioned the Power Rangers and Skull for that matter. In the original, the gang thought Red was cold and was not aware of the little girl and then found out that he was saving the girl, this was changed. Brittany's acting as Emily was still not top-notch, she was still a little too-cheery. Even though in Shinkenger it was funny when the Rangers made a tower, here it seems like they don't know what they are doing.